TRUMP SAYS HE WILL NOT GET INVOLVED IN NETFLIX AND PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE BATTLE TO ACQUIRE WBD . (PHOTO).

 Trump says he will not get involved in Netflix and Paramount Skydance battle to acquire WBD 

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will not involve himself in the battle between Netflix and Paramount Skydance to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

“I haven’t been involved,” Trump said, adding that while both sides have reached out to him, he has decided to step aside and let the Justice Department handle the matter.

The announcement marks a shift from Trump’s comments in early December, when he suggested he might participate in reviewing the deal. At the time, he expressed concerns about Netflix gaining a large market share if its proposed $72 billion acquisition of WBD, which would include the film studio, HBO, and HBO Max but exclude cable networks like CNN, were approved.

Paramount Skydance later launched a competing hostile takeover bid valued at more than $108 billion for all of WBD. Trump noted Wednesday that the two companies are fiercely competing and said, “They’re beating the hell out of each other — and there’ll be a winner.”

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos visited Trump in the Oval Office shortly before Netflix’s offer was recommended by WBD leadership, and Larry Ellison, whose son David Ellison leads Paramount, is close to the president. Sarandos told lawmakers that his meeting with Trump “was not specifically to talk about the deal” and expressed confidence that the Justice Department would manage the review process.

The proposed deals have raised antitrust concerns, with some lawmakers warning that either merger could consolidate significant production and distribution power in the streaming market.